Monday, November 28, 2005
SPIRITUAL REVERIE: secret texter
This is going to be short. Last Thanksgiving I received an anonymous text from somebody at two o 'clock in the morning.
And it read:
" I do not cease to give thanks for you, I'm remembering you in my prayers."
Ephesians 1:16
Upon receiving this, I also sent multiple texts to all my friends and family and people who have touched my lif thanking them for being such a blessing to me. And that, I was truly appreciative of them. I got several grateful texts and phonecalls myself. And it felt great knowing that people are thankful for you just being you.
Sometimes, it's the little things that matter. And I'm a sucker for simple things. So whoever was my secret texter, thanks to you also. You just made my thanksgiving day.
Monday, November 07, 2005
SPIRITUAL REVERIES: watermelons and tamarinds
it has been a long sundrenched day for this hardworking farmer in the philippines. he was in the plantation farm the whole day cultivating and nourishing the harvest. and now, it was his deserved time to have his lunch break and rest after all the toiling and planting under the heat of the sun.
after he ate,the farmer decided to take rest his tiresome body as he approached a comfortable space under an almost gigantic fruit-filled tamarind tree. as he makes himself comfortable, he gazed up at the abundant tamarind tree above him and it's generous fruits hanging all over the tree with its pinnate leaves, and red-striped yellow flowers. the farmer noticed the hard shape tamarind fruits with yellowish wood colored shape attached to thick, sturdy, solid wood branches. these hand held fruits were shaped like bite sized imperfect number eights. he stared at the unique fruit with inquiring wonder.
not far from where he sat and relaxed were many rows of huge, almost perfectly oblong shaped watermelons laying firmly on top of the healthy soil. they were enermous. it was attached to rich colored greenish flexible stem, almost like a weakling, feeble, delicate vine which then leads directly to the soil. again, the farmer smirked and was left with questioned awe and inquiry as he glanced once again to the big watermelons and comparing it to the small eight shaped tamarind fruits.
then he wondered and talks to himself, "
i'm confused. God does not know what he was doing when he created this fruits. on the tree on top of me were durable strong branches of tamarind with its small fruits while on the other side of me were huge watermelons attached to its frailed and flimsy stems. now, why would the God do that? should not it be the other way? shouldn't the bug watermelons get the toughened branches and shouldn't the little tamarind fruits be connected to the puny weak stemmed branch?
God surely is as confused as me." he baffled in perplexity as he finally takes a snoozing nap.
in the midst of the farmers eased catnapping relaxation, a tamarind fruit fell suddenly and abruptly on top his head. the hard fruit created an obvious discomfort. he woke up with the unexpected pang and ache. massaging the sore area, he remembered what he contemplated before his slumbered sleep. he thought about God being confused because of the sizes of the fruits and its umnatched branches. and now that he was finally hit with the tiny tamarind fruit, he realized how thankful he was that the tamarind was pint size compared to being hit by a massive elephantine watermelons.
as the storyteller finished the story, i smiled and entertained. i silently told myself, " i hope the farmer realized what i am thinking about. " what was i thinking about?
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING.
so let HIM do it. sometimes in our lives, there are going to be a lot of perlexed events. some we will never understand. bewilderment will baffle us. God will test us with confounded questions, puzzled trials and discomfit match liek the tamarind and the watermelon. sometimes, it will show uncertaint and unhinged thoughts. but through this all, just remember one thing,
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. in the proper place and time, enlightenment will occur. only then will we have a reaasured understanding.
SPIRITUAL REVERIES: tamarinds and watermelons
it has been a long sundrenched day for this hardworking farmer in the philippines. he was in the plantation farm the whole day cultivating and nourishing the harvest. and now, it was his deserved time to have his lunch break and rest after all the toiling and planting under the heat of the sun.
after he ate,the farmer decided to take rest his tiresome body as he approached a comfortable space under an almost gigantic fruit-filled tamarind tree. as he makes himself comfortable, he gazed up at the abundant tamarind tree above him and it's generous fruits hanging all over the tree with its pinnate leaves, and red-striped yellow flowers. the farmer noticed the hard shape tamarind fruits with yellowish wood colored shape attached to thick, sturdy, solid wood branches. these hand held fruits were shaped like bite sized imperfect number eights. he stared at the unique fruit with inquiring wonder.
not far from where he sat and relaxed were many rows of huge, almost perfectly oblong shaped watermelons laying firmly on top of the healthy soil. they were enermous. it was attached to rich colored greenish flexible stem, almost like a weakling, feeble, delicate vine which then leads directly to the soil. again, the farmer smirked and was left with questioned awe and inquiry as he glanced once again to the big watermelons and comparing it to the small eight shaped tamarind fruits.
then he wondered and talks to himself, "
i'm confused. God does not know what he was doing when he created this fruits. on the tree on top of me were durable strong branches of tamarind with its small fruits while on the other side of me were huge watermelons attached to its frailed and flimsy stems. now, why would the God do that? should not it be the other way? shouldn't the bug watermelons get the toughened branches and shouldn't the little tamarind fruits be connected to the puny weak stemmed branch?
God surely is as confused as me." he baffled in perplexity as he finally takes a snoozing nap.
in the midst of the farmers eased catnapping relaxation, a tamarind fruit fell suddenly and abruptly on top his head. the hard fruit created an obvious discomfort. he woke up with the unexpected pang and ache. massaging the sore area, he remembered what he contemplated before his slumbered sleep. he thought about God being confused because of the sizes of the fruits and its umnatched branches. and now that he was finally hit with the tiny tamarind fruit, he realized how thankful he was that the tamarind was pint size compared to being hit by a massive elephantine watermelons.
as the storyteller finished the story, i smiled and entertained. i silently told myself, " i hope the farmer realized what i am thinking about. " what was i thinking about?
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING.
so let HIM do it. sometimes in our lives, there are going to be a lot of perlexed events. some we will never understand. bewilderment will baffle us. God will test us with confounded questions, puzzled trials and discomfit match liek the tamarind and the watermelon. sometimes, it will show uncertaint and unhinged thoughts. but through this all, just remember one thing,
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. in the proper place and time, enlightenment will occur. only then will we have a reaasured understanding.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
SPIRITUAL REVERIES: jack-o-lantern
the spirit of halloween is done. but the ever popular well lighted jack-o-lanterns are still beautifully decorated all over america's porches and out doors. but i learned a significant lesson about halloween this year as ate melissa unraveled her fascinating christian styled version of the jack-o-lantern story. it's quite a twist.
ate melissa began telling her story as she recapped instructions how to make a regular shapped pumpkin into these marvelous jack-o-lanterns. first, she started out that a pumpkin is picked randomly. she described it as dark inside filled with a lot of unwanted stuff inside it. it is then cleaned from the inside out. that meant, one must also take out all the "yucky" and "gooey" stuff inside thepumpkin such as seeds and stripped fibers and all so then the pumpkin will be hollow.
second, the pumpkin then is ready for carving. one can use anything to shaped or decorate this pumpkin.you can decorate this pumpkin any way he like. it can be of any shape and kind. it gives it a certain character and individuality.
third, she commented that one can then get a small tea light candle and light it fire. place the lighted tea light candle inside the hollow pumpkin. this then will illuminate the carved character outside the pumpkin towards the people looking at it.
after she rendered this familiar way of "how-to-do-a-jack-o-lantern" instructions, she then stated that "jack-o-lantern is like having GOD in your life." and everyone listened to her curiously.
first, she stated, "God chooses you randomly, like a pumpkin was chosen randomly." it can be anyone.then second, she described how we were before we ger spiritually cleaned. Like the stuffed and seeded pumpkin, our life is also dark and dim with a lot of "unwanted " things inside us bursting to come out and it needs to be freed. the only way to do that is to manually clean it off.
second, she continued on that when an individual decides and accepts the Lord to enter his life, he or she needs to be "cleaned "the same way how a pumpkin is cleaned from inside out. "through asking for forgiveness and repeneting our sins, we were then cleaned from our sins," she blurted. she reminded us we need to take out the "gooey and yucky" things, we committed out of our spirits and selves and be cleansed from it all just like a pumpkin is cleaned well.
third, once we accept the Lord in our lives, the Lord gives us the light to add brightness to out lives and illuminate our heart warming spirits. this is similarly likened to when the tea light is placed inside the hollow pumpkin with a chance to light the once dark world inside it. with the process complete, the pumpkin is then to be enjoyed by the one who appreciates it just like a man is changed with a new purpose.
as she finished her story, i smiled in awe. i thought of the many times i accepted the Lord in my life and how i repented my self. i was also reminded of how each and every time i did, it has been a cleansing experience for me to start all over again. it was freeing. it certainly takes that "dark gooey" stuff inside my system and i come out with a new lighted spirit after just like tea candle inside the hollowd pumpkin.
strange because now, i will never just perceive a carved pumpkin just another regular jack-o-lantern. halloween will never be just another "hallow's eve" story. now, when i see a jack-o-lantern, i will be reminded of the sole reason why i am in existence. i will remember that like the jack-o-lantern that was made and handcarved uniquely as it lit up the porches ofour houses during halloween, i was also handpicked and made uniquely for a purpose. and that is to shed my light to as far as many people i can.
